BCCI suspends Raj Kundra pending inquiry

The Indian cricket board Monday suspended Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra from all cricketing activities pending probe on the basis of Delhi Police claims that he placed bets in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar last week said that Kundra betted regularly during IPL.

"Mr. Raj Kundra has been suspended pending an inquiry. We reached this conclusion after Neeraj Kumar grilled him for 11 hours after which he confessed to betting," said Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) interim chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya, after the body's emergency meet here Monday.

"A complaint against Kundra was filed by Sundar Raman (IPL CEO) and one other person I won't like to name," said Dalmiya, who has taken charge of BCCI after president N. Srinivasan 'stepped aside' following investigations into son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan's involvement in the IPL spot fixing and betting scandal.

However, there was no mention of Meiyappan or the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings in the meet.

Reacting to his suspension, Kundra was defiant.

"As I walk out of my house head up high in my blue RR jersey and proud to be a loyal royal. Justice will prevail," Kundra tweeted.

The BCCI also announced that Justice R. Balasubramanian and Justice Jayaram T Chouta (both retired) will form the probe panel which will look into Kundra's case besides his team Rajasthan Royals, whose three players S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested May 16 on spot fixing charges.

The panel will also look into the Chennai Super Kings's role in the scam as well as their suspended CEO Meiyappan, who was also suspended by BCCI following his arrest May 24. He is out on bail now.

Asked how much time the panel will take to complete its job, Dalmiya said: "They are on the job. It is a long procedure. We don't have access to the players and the police are unlikely to share any information with us. So these are hurdles we will have to overcome."

As for the three arrested players, BCCI's anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani has submitted his report to its disciplinary committee which can only take action after the players come out of jail.

Amongst other decisions taken in the meeting, the BCCI ratified the appointment of treasurer Ravi Savant and secretary Sanjay Patel, replacing Ajay Shirke and Sanjay Jagdale, respectively.